(I'll wait to continue with the pool room until Chrys has a chance to post. In the meantime, Kess had wanted to speak with the two Uthgardt men when they woke up.)
When you return to the temple in the morning, you find that the two men are awake, but still very much out of it, showing continued signs of exhaustion. However, a full night's sleep seems to have done them well, and even through they're still rather groggy and wounded from behind abused for who knows how long, they're more alert than they were when you first saw them yesterday. At this point, they're huddled by the hearth in the corner of the banquet room, which they've stoked to produce a bit more heat.
Unfortunately, neither of them seem to understand word spoken with the common tongue. They do seem to grasp simple signs and gestures. You don't know if they speak any other languages.
Lumen's going to try something with the Uthgardts. He first hands over two days' worth of rations, and more water.
He then tries to use prestidigitation to show them small brief images in his hands.
-An image of the hobgoblins, goblins, and the worg all dead on the ground in the other rooms, including the "goblin" with the mask -Another image of the group fighting, and Lumen as an obvious protagonist, but not the ONLY protagonist (this is a bard telling a story, people, cut him some slack) -An image of two hands, one blue-green and one pigmented like the Uthgardts, grasping in friendship -An image of the two Uthgardts, plus space for other Uthgardts, and then Lumen would look at them with a questioning face, and some sympathy (asking if there are others) -An image of the pool room, with another questioning look -An image of the door to the room with the halfling zombies, with another questioning look -An image of the group, plus the Uthgardts, departing the cave -An image of a general, simple map of the cave, the forest and the road, with a path showing where the group came from, and pointing to them, and showing it again to ask them to point where they came from
If they seem to be freaked out by magic, he'll stop, but he's going to try to communicate a bit. Then he's happy to move along to the pool room.
The two Uthgardt men seem to be a little wary of magic, but they gladly accept your gift of food as they watch Lumen's "presentation" and try to understand the messages he's communicating. They look rather confused at many of his images, but you get the sense they grasp the notion that you have killed the goblins, worg and the goblin leader. They also nod at the symbol of the two hands grasping each other, and it appears that they understand the concept that of leaving the cave.
In turn, they try to communicate with hand signals. From their gestures, you get the message that it was only them who were captured by the goblins and that they know nothing of the pool or the the supposed zombies. This banquet room is the only place that they've seen inside the temple.
They're also very ready to leave, but do not know the way out.
Chrys's eyes widen, and she takes a step back from the pool in recoil as she pulls out her hammer. "Oi… don't stick anythin' in there. There's a fiend at the bottom o' that pool," she tells the others.
She turns to the others. "We gotta tell the others back in Melton 'bout this. I don't like lettin' evil lay, but I don't feel right 'bout bringin' the rest o' you ta fight a fiend here without the help o' a cleric's holy blessins' ta fight that kind o' evil."
“Does Melton have a cleric who could help with this? And if we aren’t going to deal with the fiend, should we deal with the zombie halflings?”
Lumen wants to see if there is any evidence of people or goblins having been there around the pool, apart from the runic warning. Any tracks, dropped items, scuff marks, spilled liquids, stains, etc. He will go inside just a bit farther to get a good look but not within 15 feet.
As you look around the pool room, you don't see any evidence which might indicate that the goblins spent much, if any, time here. There are no scuff marks or stains on the floor, at least none that look like they've been made in the past year, and there are no discarded items lying anywhere on the floor of the room.
Lumen isn’t going to mess with things he doesn’t understand and are best left to holier people. He is happy to move along either to Melton or to the room with the zombies to dispose of them. When they go back to the barracks room, can they still hear them moving on the other side of the door?
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Chrys leads the others back to the room with the zombies. "It's only right ta put Harriet's companions to a proper rest. We might not be able to cleanse this here temple o' evil completely, but we gotta do what little we can." She allows Lumen to check about the room, while she closes her eyes and listens carefully, trying to gauge the scope of the fight they are about to face.
Perception, hearing: 23
"Little thing 'bout the undead,"she tells the others. "If they came back as skeletons, try ta hit 'em with somethin' blunt." She hefts Due Process as an example. "Sharp an' pointy things don't do too well on creatures that don't have any flesh left ta stick them sharp an' pointy things into. Ya might want ta try the blunt end o' yer weapons to bring 'em down quicker... it may not kill 'em, but it could take 'em to the floor quicker, an' some flame or the crush o' Due Process can send 'em to their final rest afterwards." She pauses."Don't bother with any o' that advice if they still got flesh on their bones, though."
(OOC: the suggestion is, if we might end up fighting skeletons and you don't have a bludgeoning weapon damage available, aim to do non-lethal damage with your normal slashing or piercing weapon, because although you won't be able to kill it, non-lethal damage is pretty much always bludgeoning damage and it can take them out of the fight more quickly. ;-) )
Krackle would look around for a few more rocks or heavy bits of scrap that might fit in his sling... "Ok, i'll knock'em down and then we can see if they are hiding any any more coin in there..." The tiny kobold would say from behind his mask.
“Can we open the door a crack to see what’s inside? Then we get a look, confirm it’s really a baddie, and wecan maybe even hit them with slings and fire bolts through the crack from a safe distance, while they can’t get to us very well, or at least one at a time.”
He looks around for a heavy bunk bed frame or other heavy piece of furniture to drag over next to the door, so that when they open it, the door stops after about three inches. He will also look for a shim of wood or a stake or something similar to shove underneath the door.
When you return to the room where you found Harriet, you see once again that the easter door has been jammed shut with iron spikes. With enough time, we'll say that you're able to forcibly remove them, and then gather enough pieces of furniture from the benches and tables to pile up into a large, makeshift door stop that will allow the door to only open at most, half a foot.
Of course, the barricade is only so strong, and with enough force from the other side, it could possibly be moved. It would come down to a strength check between you and who/whatever is on the other side.
Once everything is set, you open the door a few inches and look inside. From the shelf lined walls of this small (25'x25') chamber, and the half-charred biles of books and parchment on the ash-covered floor, you figure that this places was some kind of library.
As soon as the door is cracked, you hear a hissing groan coming from somewhere in the room, and a few seconds later, you see four humanoid sized creatures appear and begin lurching towards the door with jerky, mindless movements. From their ragged, torn clothing, bloated limbs and decaying flesh/innards that hang off of them, you easily recognize these creatures as zombies. Right now, the closest one to the door is about 10 feet away.
"Oh, great," Chrys says at the sight. Pulling out her dagger, she throws it towards the nearest zombie in an attempt to slow it down.. Then she places herself in a position convenient to help hold the door closed should the zombies decide to push. "Think we're gonna need some fire in the hole!" she yells.
Chrys finds it hard to get a good throw through the narrow opening, and she watches as her dagger flies into the room with rather poor aim. However, it's true enough to hit one of the slowly lumbering undead creatures, and she watches as the point embeds itself in the lead zombie's already disgusting, festering chest.
When she moves out of the way, Vesper moves into position and aims her fire bolt at the same zombie. The flickering bolt hits the creature square in the neck, leaving a pronounced, bright red burn mark on the zombie's rotting skin.
By now, the zombies have lumbered right up to the door, and one of them sticks his arm through the opening, trying to grab and claw at Vesper with mindless, but frightening wavering aggression. (Attacking with disadvantage: Attack: 18 Damage: 4)
It manages to rake her arm with its long, sharp, dirty fingernails before she can quickly pull herself out of the way, and suddenly you feel the pressure of the four creatures pushing against the door. (I need each of you to roll a strength check to see if you can hold the door against the push of the four zombies.)
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Lumen starts intoning in a deeply unnerving baritone (dissonant whispers) and the lead zombie takes 12 psychic damage and has to move away on a failed WIS 14 save.
Lumen strength check: 11
He then readies his longsword to start hacking at any limbs that reach through the door jamb as he holds onto the doorframe.
"This escalated quickly! Really thought it would work better..."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Lumen, roll an attack with advantage to see how much damage you deal by chopping at the arm.
Zombie WIS Save: 2
The half orc's deep timbre melody carries a disturbing tone, and while it seems to inflict a certain amount of pain on the lead zombie, the creature shows little reaction to the spell and keep trying to claw through the opening and scratch or grab at anyone who comes too close.
(I'll wait to continue with the pool room until Chrys has a chance to post. In the meantime, Kess had wanted to speak with the two Uthgardt men when they woke up.)
When you return to the temple in the morning, you find that the two men are awake, but still very much out of it, showing continued signs of exhaustion. However, a full night's sleep seems to have done them well, and even through they're still rather groggy and wounded from behind abused for who knows how long, they're more alert than they were when you first saw them yesterday. At this point, they're huddled by the hearth in the corner of the banquet room, which they've stoked to produce a bit more heat.
Unfortunately, neither of them seem to understand word spoken with the common tongue. They do seem to grasp simple signs and gestures. You don't know if they speak any other languages.
Lumen's going to try something with the Uthgardts. He first hands over two days' worth of rations, and more water.
He then tries to use prestidigitation to show them small brief images in his hands.
-An image of the hobgoblins, goblins, and the worg all dead on the ground in the other rooms, including the "goblin" with the mask
-Another image of the group fighting, and Lumen as an obvious protagonist, but not the ONLY protagonist (this is a bard telling a story, people, cut him some slack)
-An image of two hands, one blue-green and one pigmented like the Uthgardts, grasping in friendship
-An image of the two Uthgardts, plus space for other Uthgardts, and then Lumen would look at them with a questioning face, and some sympathy (asking if there are others)
-An image of the pool room, with another questioning look
-An image of the door to the room with the halfling zombies, with another questioning look
-An image of the group, plus the Uthgardts, departing the cave
-An image of a general, simple map of the cave, the forest and the road, with a path showing where the group came from, and pointing to them, and showing it again to ask them to point where they came from
If they seem to be freaked out by magic, he'll stop, but he's going to try to communicate a bit. Then he's happy to move along to the pool room.
Lumen, roll a performance check.
Lumen performance: 19
The two Uthgardt men seem to be a little wary of magic, but they gladly accept your gift of food as they watch Lumen's "presentation" and try to understand the messages he's communicating. They look rather confused at many of his images, but you get the sense they grasp the notion that you have killed the goblins, worg and the goblin leader. They also nod at the symbol of the two hands grasping each other, and it appears that they understand the concept that of leaving the cave.
In turn, they try to communicate with hand signals. From their gestures, you get the message that it was only them who were captured by the goblins and that they know nothing of the pool or the the supposed zombies. This banquet room is the only place that they've seen inside the temple.
They're also very ready to leave, but do not know the way out.
Chrys's eyes widen, and she takes a step back from the pool in recoil as she pulls out her hammer. "Oi… don't stick anythin' in there. There's a fiend at the bottom o' that pool," she tells the others.
She turns to the others. "We gotta tell the others back in Melton 'bout this. I don't like lettin' evil lay, but I don't feel right 'bout bringin' the rest o' you ta fight a fiend here without the help o' a cleric's holy blessins' ta fight that kind o' evil."
"Okay, let's get going."
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
“Does Melton have a cleric who could help with this? And if we aren’t going to deal with the fiend, should we deal with the zombie halflings?”
Lumen wants to see if there is any evidence of people or goblins having been there around the pool, apart from the runic warning. Any tracks, dropped items, scuff marks, spilled liquids, stains, etc. He will go inside just a bit farther to get a good look but not within 15 feet.
As you look around the pool room, you don't see any evidence which might indicate that the goblins spent much, if any, time here. There are no scuff marks or stains on the floor, at least none that look like they've been made in the past year, and there are no discarded items lying anywhere on the floor of the room.
Lumen isn’t going to mess with things he doesn’t understand and are best left to holier people. He is happy to move along either to Melton or to the room with the zombies to dispose of them. When they go back to the barracks room, can they still hear them moving on the other side of the door?
Chrys leads the others back to the room with the zombies. "It's only right ta put Harriet's companions to a proper rest. We might not be able to cleanse this here temple o' evil completely, but we gotta do what little we can." She allows Lumen to check about the room, while she closes her eyes and listens carefully, trying to gauge the scope of the fight they are about to face.
Perception, hearing: 23
"Little thing 'bout the undead," she tells the others. "If they came back as skeletons, try ta hit 'em with somethin' blunt." She hefts Due Process as an example. "Sharp an' pointy things don't do too well on creatures that don't have any flesh left ta stick them sharp an' pointy things into. Ya might want ta try the blunt end o' yer weapons to bring 'em down quicker... it may not kill 'em, but it could take 'em to the floor quicker, an' some flame or the crush o' Due Process can send 'em to their final rest afterwards." She pauses. "Don't bother with any o' that advice if they still got flesh on their bones, though."
(OOC: the suggestion is, if we might end up fighting skeletons and you don't have a bludgeoning weapon damage available, aim to do non-lethal damage with your normal slashing or piercing weapon, because although you won't be able to kill it, non-lethal damage is pretty much always bludgeoning damage and it can take them out of the fight more quickly. ;-) )
Krackle would look around for a few more rocks or heavy bits of scrap that might fit in his sling... "Ok, i'll knock'em down and then we can see if they are hiding any any more coin in there..." The tiny kobold would say from behind his mask.
“Can we open the door a crack to see what’s inside? Then we get a look, confirm it’s really a baddie, and we can maybe even hit them with slings and fire bolts through the crack from a safe distance, while they can’t get to us very well, or at least one at a time.”
He looks around for a heavy bunk bed frame or other heavy piece of furniture to drag over next to the door, so that when they open it, the door stops after about three inches. He will also look for a shim of wood or a stake or something similar to shove underneath the door.
When you return to the room where you found Harriet, you see once again that the easter door has been jammed shut with iron spikes. With enough time, we'll say that you're able to forcibly remove them, and then gather enough pieces of furniture from the benches and tables to pile up into a large, makeshift door stop that will allow the door to only open at most, half a foot.
Of course, the barricade is only so strong, and with enough force from the other side, it could possibly be moved. It would come down to a strength check between you and who/whatever is on the other side.
Once everything is set, you open the door a few inches and look inside. From the shelf lined walls of this small (25'x25') chamber, and the half-charred biles of books and parchment on the ash-covered floor, you figure that this places was some kind of library.
As soon as the door is cracked, you hear a hissing groan coming from somewhere in the room, and a few seconds later, you see four humanoid sized creatures appear and begin lurching towards the door with jerky, mindless movements. From their ragged, torn clothing, bloated limbs and decaying flesh/innards that hang off of them, you easily recognize these creatures as zombies. Right now, the closest one to the door is about 10 feet away.
"Oh, great," Chrys says at the sight. Pulling out her dagger, she throws it towards the nearest zombie in an attempt to slow it down.. Then she places herself in a position convenient to help hold the door closed should the zombies decide to push. "Think we're gonna need some fire in the hole!" she yells.
Attack: 8
Damage: 8 piercing
Vesper throws a Fire Bolt
Attack: 9 Damage: 3
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
Chrys finds it hard to get a good throw through the narrow opening, and she watches as her dagger flies into the room with rather poor aim. However, it's true enough to hit one of the slowly lumbering undead creatures, and she watches as the point embeds itself in the lead zombie's already disgusting, festering chest.
When she moves out of the way, Vesper moves into position and aims her fire bolt at the same zombie. The flickering bolt hits the creature square in the neck, leaving a pronounced, bright red burn mark on the zombie's rotting skin.
By now, the zombies have lumbered right up to the door, and one of them sticks his arm through the opening, trying to grab and claw at Vesper with mindless, but frightening wavering aggression. (Attacking with disadvantage: Attack: 18 Damage: 4)
It manages to rake her arm with its long, sharp, dirty fingernails before she can quickly pull herself out of the way, and suddenly you feel the pressure of the four creatures pushing against the door. (I need each of you to roll a strength check to see if you can hold the door against the push of the four zombies.)
4
Xenophon: Topaz Dragonborn Fighter (ixi's Dragon of Icespire Peak)
More
Lumen starts intoning in a deeply unnerving baritone (dissonant whispers) and the lead zombie takes 12 psychic damage and has to move away on a failed WIS 14 save.
Lumen strength check: 11
He then readies his longsword to start hacking at any limbs that reach through the door jamb as he holds onto the doorframe.
"This escalated quickly! Really thought it would work better..."
Lumen, roll an attack with advantage to see how much damage you deal by chopping at the arm.
Zombie WIS Save: 2
The half orc's deep timbre melody carries a disturbing tone, and while it seems to inflict a certain amount of pain on the lead zombie, the creature shows little reaction to the spell and keep trying to claw through the opening and scratch or grab at anyone who comes too close.